Cry of the Augurey
by burnacrossthesky
Summary: Delphi has withstood life with Euphemia Rowle for far too long. She has no idea who she is, and nobody else knows either. At least that's what she thinks...


I have no mother.

I have no father.

No one knows who I am, where I came from.

* * *

Euphemia Rowle is my guardian. She has an Augurey in a cage. It has greenish black feathers that look more sharp than soft, and a pointed beak that could cut through anything stupid enough to get in its way. It is skinny and half-starved. At first I hated it; it scared me to think that I was always right next to a bird that could peck my eyes out and predict my death. But then I realized that we're not so different. We both withstand Euphemia's torture, we both get nothing, and we're both stuck in a cage.

The difference is that the Augurey can fly, and I can't. I will never be able to soar out of this darkness like he can. I am stuck in it forever. There is no place to go for a lonely twelve-year-old that nobody knows.

The Augurey cries day and night. The sounds fill my ears... long, loud, sad wails, wails that could shatter the earth if they tried. Euphemia grins at me, a menacing smile that makes me want to cower in a corner. But I don't. I stand strong, waiting for her words. "Hear that, child? That Augurey is crying because you're going to meet a sticky end. A sticky, sticky end."

She has said this every day to me for eight years.

* * *

I saw Euphemia getting her gold one month. I was still young then, too young to realize that payment was the only reason she took care of me. I know that now, and sometimes I wonder why she doesn't just kill me. Seems like it would save a lot of work for her, and we'd both be happier. I shouldn't have been so surprised when she wouldn't allow me to attend Hogwarts. She burned the letter, and as I watched I thought, _Just like Harry Potter._

* * *

Euphemia has never allowed me a playmate. I barely go outside of the house. Euphemia is afraid she'll lose me, and then she won't get paid. But I'm lonely. Friendless. All I want is one person to play with, someone who actually likes me for a change. Instead, the emotion channeled toward me is hatred, and it comes from Euphemia. I will live my whole life like this, and I can't stand it any longer. I begin to eye a knife in the kitchen.

* * *

The roof is where I escape to, my safe place when Euphemia is being harsh. I sit with my arms around my legs, the wind whistling past my ears and chilling me to the bone. I hear Euphemia's voice call me from inside, but I ignore it with a grin. I'm not planning to go down any time soon. Instead, I look out in front of me. It truly is a beautiful view of the sunset; cotton-candy clouds and a pink sky and a golden sun lowering on the horizon. Above me stars have appeared in a sea of purple, and a glowing full moon rises to light the way. I hear a howl in the distance, and then it stops. Even the Augurey has stopped crying for a moment. There is complete silence.

Then I hear footsteps on the path. I whip my head around toward the noise. The steps continue, and I look over the edge of the roof. Two eyes and an evil grin stare back at me. I muffle a scream and back up to the far side.

Someone is climbing the roof.

* * *

The man has made it to the top. He grins at me. He has crooked yellow teeth and scratches everywhere. "I know who you are."

I know better than to trust him. With this look he could have killed someone a minute ago. He might have blown up a city just now. Or he could have...

"Escaped from Azkaban." He lets out a cackle. "Yes, I have. Rodolphus Lestrange, pleasure to meet you. Though we have met once before."

I shake my head... and then I realize that he could be right. Maybe he has the information I've been looking for all my life. "Who am I, then?" I try to make my voice come out in more than a scared squeak.

And then he sits down and tells me, and I listen.

I am the daughter of Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort, he says. I was born in secret in Malfoy Manor. My parents were both killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, my mother by Molly Weasley and my father by Harry Potter... the whole story spills out of his mouth and into my mind like a bird to the ground, something that isn't supposed to happen but does anyway. I understand everything now.

Rodolphus stands. "So?" he says gruffly. "Will you join me or not?"

My mind is spinning. For so many years I have felt like I've been teetering on the edge on insanity. But now I have a choice: sanity or insanity. And now I have something new to think about. I _admired_ Harry Potter. I loved hearing of his adventures. But he killed my father. And my father is more important than the boy who destroyed him. Here, in front of me, is the absolute and complete truth...

He sees my hesitation and holds out his hand. "Come," he says. "You could be so much more with me."

This new idea, that I might have parents, that I might _be_ someone...I could be so much more than a child about to meet a "sticky end". I could be so powerful. I could destroy Euphemia Rowle. I could kill Harry Potter. I could kill Molly Weasley.

I could avenge my parents.

I reach forward.

But have I done the right thing? Or have I chosen insanity?


End file.
